-■  .v'A  - 


!/  YV.5  I 


f 


The  Present  Aspect 

of  the 

Mississippi  River  Problem 

“Nor  must  Uncle  Sam’s  web-feet  be  forgotten 

Not  only  on  the  deep  sea,  the  broad  bay  and  the  rapid  river, 
but  also  up  the  narrow,  muddy  bayou,  and  wherever  the  ground 
was  a little  damp,  they  have  been  and  made  their  tracks.” — 
ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 


There  was  a time  in  the  geologic  past  when  the  water  of 
Lake  Michigan  had  an  outlet  southward  by  way  of  the  Illi- 
nois and  Mississippi  rivers  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  The  Chi- 
cago drainage  canal  has  re-opened  that  outlet  to  the  extent 
of  its  flow.  The  idea  of  connecting  the  Great  Lakes  and  the 
Gulf  by  a navigable  channel  along  that  line  is  an  old  one. 
It  was  suggested  first,  so  far  as  is  known,  by  Joliet  in  a 
letter  written  Aug.  1,  1674,  from  his  camp  at  the  foot  of  Lake 
Michigan,  close  to  the  line  of  the  present  drainage  canal.  But 
for  a century  and  a quarter  it  was  only  a thing  to  dream  about, 
as  was  the  Isthmian  canal  for  three  centuries  and  a half  after 
Balboa,  Sept.  1,  1513,  “stood  silent  on  a peak  in  Darien,”  and 
saw  the  Pacific  Ocean  at  his  feet.  After  the  revolution  and 
the  adoption  of  the  constitution,  the  United  States  govern- 
ment began  to  take  a languid,  intermittent  and  ineffective 
interest  in  the  subject : and  for  fifty  years  it  was  kept  alive 
by  various  proposals,  surveys  and  reports.  Then  came  the 
railroad  era,  and  then  the  war,  and  then  more  railroads.  It 
was  not  until  the  City  of  Chicago  had  cut  through  the  divide 
wdth  its  drainage  canal  and  established  an  actual  flow  of  water 
from  the  lakes  to  the  Gulf,  and  the  inability  of  the  railroads 
to  meet  the  demands  of  commerce,  present  and  prospective, 
had  forced  itself  upon  the  attention  of  the  public  that  the 
do-something  stage  was  reached.  Within  a few  months  past 
the  subject  has  received  a great  accession  of  interest,  and 
there  seems  to  be  a probability  that  a Lakes-to-the-Gulf  water- 
way will  be  undertaken  in  earnest  in  the  near  future.  The 
subjects  of  its  feasibility  and  the  methods  of  its  construction 
are  thu£  in  order  for  consideration  by  those  citizens  who  like 
to  keep  a little  lookout  ahead. 

The  work  naturally  lays  itself  off  into  three  great  sub- 
divisions ; the  first  from  Chicago  to  the  mouth  of  the  Illinois 
river;  the  second  from  the  mouth  of  the  Illinois  to  the  mouth 


2 


PRESENT  ASPECT  OF  THE 


of  the  Ohio ; and  the  third  from  that  junction  to  the  City  of 
New  Orleans,  where  inland  and  ocean  commerce  meet;  or,  if 
we  choose  to  put  it  so,  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico. 

Of  the  first  of  these  sub-divisions,  and  so  much  of  the  sec- 
ond as  lies  between  the  mouth  of  the  Illinois  and  the  City  of 
St.  Louis,  surveys  and  estimates  have  been  made  under  au- 
thority of  Congress,  which  show  a probable  cost  of  about 
$31,000,000  for  a channel  fourteen  feet  deep  from  Chicago  to 
St.  Louis. 

The  remainder  of  the  second  subdivision — that  lying  be- 
tween St.  Louis  and  Cairo,  is  probably  the  most  difficult  part 
of  the  whole  undertaking.  The  Mississippi  river  between  those 
points  receives  a large  amount  of  sediment  from  the  Missouri 
and  scours  another  large  amount  from  its  own  banks,  so  that 
it  builds  bars  rapidly,  and  at  the  same  time  its  volume  is  not 
sufficient  to  respond  effectively  to  any  form  of  improvement 
depending  upon  concentration  of  flow,  and  extending  to  con- 
siderable depth.  It  is  not  a difficult  stream  to  improve  to 
secure  a small  depth  of  channel,  such  as  six  or  seven  feet; 
but  to  secure  fourteen  feet  will  be  very  difficult.  It  is  not 
impossible  that  it  may  be  found  more  economical  to  dig  a 
canal  from  St.  Louis  to  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio,  as  has  been 
recommended  for  the  reach  between  the  mouth  of  the  Illinois 
and  St.  Louis,  than  to  attempt  to  use  the  bed  of  the  river 
for  a fourteen  feet  channel. 

It  is  mainly  of  the  third  great  natural  subdivision  of  the 
proposed  Lakes-to-the-Gulf  waterway — that  extending  from 
the.  mouth  of  the  Ohio  to  New  Orleans,  that  it  is  proposed 
to  speak  in  this  paper;  of  the  origin,  methods  and  results 
of  the  work  which  has  been  done  already  in  the  lower  Mis- 
sissippi in  the  improvement  of  its  channel;  of  the  extent  to 
which  that  work  is  valuable  as  a large,  beginning  of  the  greater 
work  of  producing  the  larger  channel;  and  of  the  further  de- 
velopment of  means  and  methods  which  will  be  required  for 
the  complete  accomplishment  of  that  work. 

The  Mississippi  River  Commission  was  created  by  Act  of 
Congress  approved  June  28,  1879.  The  law  provided  that  it 
should  consist  of  seven  members,  of  whom  three  were  to  be 
from  the  Engineer  Corps  of  the  Army,  one  from  the  Coast  and 
Geodetic  Survey,  and  three  from  civil  life,  of  whom  two  were 
to  be  civil  engineers  by  profession.  Its  duties  were  defined  in 
part  as  follows; 

“To  take  into  consideration  and  mature  such  plan  or 
plans  and  estimates  as  will  correct,  permanently,  locate, 
and  deepen  the  channel  and  protect  the  banks  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi river;  improve  and  give  safety  and  ease  to  the 
navigation  thereof;  prevent  destructive  floods;  promote 
and  facilitate  commerce,  trade  and  the  postal  service.’ ’ 


MISSISSIPPI  RIVER  PROBLEM 


3 


This  law  was  the  result  of  the  successful  opening  of  the 
mouth  of  the  Mississippi  to  the  commerce  of  the  world  by  the 
Eads  jetties.  Men  immediately  asked,  “Why  cannot  the  same 
principle  be  applied  to  the  improvement  of  the  whole  chan- 
nel?” Mr.  Eads  thought  it  could  be  done,  and  his  opinion 
carried  great  weight.  He  was  made  a member  of  the  Com- 
mission, and  it  was  commonly  known  for  some  years  as  the 
“Eads  Commission.”  Its  first  report  embodied  his  views.  It 
recommended  a plan  of  improvement  comprising  bank  protec- 
tion and  contraction  works  in  the  channel  to  secure  an  approx- 
imately uniform  low  water  width  of  about  3,000  feet,  and 
levees  on  the  banks  to  confine  the  flood  discharge  and  utilize 
its  energy  in  scouring  out  and  deepening  the  thus  regulated 
channel.  The  cost  of  bank  protection  consisting  of  mattresses 
and  stone  revetment  to  prevent  caving  was  estimated  at  $12 
per  lineal  bank  foot ; and  the  cost  of  the  whole  improvement  at 
$33,000,000. 

The  execution  of  this  plan,  with  some  important  modifica- 
tions, which  need  not,  however,  be  described  here,  has  been  in 
progress  since  under  appropriations  made  by  Congress  which 
have  amounted  in  the  aggregate  to  $55,179,555,  (including, 
however,  appropriations  for  a number  of  works  not  embraced 
in  the  commission’s  plan  and  estimate),  with  the  general 
result  that  in  recent  years  a minimum  low  water  chan- 
nel depth  of  nine  feet  from  Cairo  down  has  been  maintained, 
and  a levee  system  has  been  carried  well  on  toward  completion 
’which  now  protects  from  overflow  almost  all  the  land  in  the 
alluvial  basin  which  can  be  protected  in  that  way. 

It  will  facilitate  a clear  understanding  of  the  suggestions 
which  it  is  in  mind  to  offer  in  what  follows  to  consider  for  a 
moment  the  conditions  and  forces  that  will  have  to  be  dealt 
with  in  making  the  lower  Mississippi  part  of  an  inter-Lake- 
and-Gulf  highway.  If  the  channel  of  the  Mississippi  could  be 
emptied  of  its  water,  so  as  to  expose  it  to  the  bottom,  dry  and 
bare,  the  appearance  would  be  surprising  to  most  of  us.  In- 
stead of  a comparatively  level  bed  corresponding  in  a general 
way  to  the.  surface  of  the  river  and  its  adjacent  banks,  there 
would  be  found  a succession  of  great  sand  hills  and  interven- 
ing crescent  shaped  depressions.  Passing  through  one  of  these 
depressions  the  observer  would  find  himself,  it  might  be,  a 
hundred  feet  or  more  below  the  top  of  the  bank  on  the  con- 
cave side.  Within  a few  thousand  feet  he  would  encounter  a 
sand  hill  stretching  across  the  channel  perhaps  seventy-five 
feet  high.  Having  crossed  the  top  of  this,  he  would  descend 
into  another  basin,  then  climb  anther  hill,  and  so  on.  When 
the  channel  is  filled  with  water  the  crests  of  these  elevations 
approach  the  surface  and  constitute  the  bars  which  obstruct 
navigation. 


4 


PRESENT  ASPECT  OF  THE 


The  action  by  which  the  bars  are  produced  is  somewhat  as 
follows : At  flood  stage  a volume  of  water  several  times  as 
great  as  that  which  goes  over  Niagara  Falls  descends  322  feet 
in  flowing  from  Cairo  to  the  Gulf.  Its  path  is  a series  of  alter- 
nately reversed  bends.  In  these  bends  the  current  hugs  the  con- 
cave bank,  flowing  with  high  velocity  and  scouring  out  of  the 
bottom  of  the  channel  and  from  the  face  of  the  bank  a greater 
or  less,  and  sometimes  a very  large  quantity  of  sand  and  loam. 
At  the  foot  of  each  bend  the  main  flow  crosses  to  the  other 
side  of  the  river  and  follows  the  concave  bank  on  that  side; 
and  so  back  and  forth,  from  bend  to  bend.  The  place  in  the 
channel  where  the  flow  thus  crosses  from  the  concave  face  of 
one  bend  to  the  concave  face  of  the  next  bend  below  is  called, 
in  the  vernacular  of  the  river,  a ‘ ‘ crossing.  ’ ’ 

As  the  watei  passes  over  the  crossing  the  velocity  of  its 
flow  falls  off  a little,  to  be  renewed  in  the  bend  below.  This 
slackening  need  be  very  little  to  cause  the  flowing  water  to  let 
fall  part  of  the  load  of  sand  and  loam  which  it  took  up  in  the 
bend  above,  the  larger  and  heavier  grains  of  sand  going  to  the 
bottom  first.  And  thus  are  built  up  the  bars  between  the 
bends.  Not,  of  course,  that  the  current  takes  up  a full  load  in 
each  bend  and  drops  it  on  the  next  crossing.  It  carries  a large 
load  all  the  time,  adding  something  to  it  in  every  bend,  and 
discharging  some  of  it  on  every  bar.  A recession  of  a bank 
line  1,000  feet  long  with  an  average  depth  of  75  feet  from  the 
edge  of  the  bank  to  the  bottom  of  the  pool  for  an  average  dis- 
tance of  50  feet  in  a season  would  be  nothing  extraordinary. 
That  would  mean  the  picking  up  and  carrying  away  of  3,750,- 
000  cubic  feet  of  earth  from  one  bend  in  one  season. 

Similarly  impressive  facts  may  be  deduced  from  an  entirely 
different  basis  of  calculation.  Observations  have  shown  that 
the  earthy  matter  carried  by  the  river  is  equal  in  bulk  to  one 
part  in  2,900  of  water,  and  in  weight  to  about  one  part  in 
1,500  of  the  total  average  volume  flowing.  At  an  active  rising 
stage  the  sediment  carried  past  a given  point  is  equal  to  1,000 
tons  a minute.  If,  at  such  a point,  a screen  could  be  placed 
across  the  river,  that  would  filter  the  water  perfectly  without 
checking  its  flow,  there  would  be  enough  earth  accumulated 
to  make  a wall  across  the  channel  a foot  thick  in  eight  minutes. 

It  is  a common  impression  that  the  sediment  which  loads  the 
water  of  the  lower  Mississippi  comes  chiefly  from  theJVlissouri 
river.  But  it  is  certain  that  only  a small  fraction  of  it  is  from 
that  source.  Altogether  the  greater  part  of  it — nearly  all  of 
it,  is  way  freight,  taken  on  and  unloaded  at  short  intervals. 
It  follows  that  activity  of  bar  building  in  the  Mississippi  de- 
pends mainly  on  activity  of  bank  caving,  and  that  the  most 
effective,  way  to  improve  the  channel  is  to  protect  the  banks 
against  caving.  This,  as  has  been  stated,  was  part  of  the  plan 


MISSISSIPPI  RIVER  PROBLEM  5 

of  improvement  recommended  by  the  Mississippi  River  Com- 
mission in  its  first  report.  In  the  execution  of  that  plan  two 
portions,  or  “reaches”  of  the  river  of  typically  bad  naviga- 
tion were  selected  for  treatment.  One  was  Plum  Point  reach, 
147  to  186  miles  below  Cairo,  and  about 38  miles  in  length;  and 
the  other  Lake  Providence,  reach,  517  to  552  miles  below  Cairo. 
In  these  reaches  caving  banks  were  protected  by  revetments 
composed  of  brush  mattresses  applied  to  the  subsequeous  slope 
of  the  bank  and  a stone  riprap  to  the  upper,  slope.  At  the  same 
time,  in  places  where  the  low  water  channel  was  very  wide, 
works  were  constructed  on  the  shallow  bars  to  stimulate  de- 
posit of  sediment,  and  so  build  up  the  bank  on  that  side  while 
holding  it  by  revetment  against  recession  on  the  other.  The 
results  at  once  demonstrated  the  engineering  soundness  of  the 
plan.  A marked  improvement  in  channel  depths  took  place* 
through  those  parts  of  the  reaches  in  which  the  projected 
works  were  completed.  But  these  engineering  works  were 
subject  to  many  vicissitudes.  The  mattresses  first  used  were 
about  300  feet  long  and  125  feet  wide.  Experience  soon  showed 
that  they  were  too  small  and  otherwise  imperfect.  The  prob- 
lem of  improving  them  was  difficult,  costly  and  tedious.  Little 
by  little,  as  engineers  learned  how  to  make  and  handle  them, 
they  grew  in  size,  until,  for  ten  years  past,  mattresses  have 
been  made  and  sunk  1,200  feet  long  and  300  feet  wide — the 
largest  textile  fabrics  ever  made  in  the  world.  With  increase 
of  size,  the  construction  was  also  improved  until  what  seems  to 
be  perfection  has  been  reached  in  the  “fascine  mat,”  built 
from  young,  flexible  willows  made  up  into  fascines  or  rolls  as 
long  as  the  width  of  the  mattress,  which  are  bound  together  by 
a warp  of  wire  supplemented  by  long  poles  running  like  ribs 
lengthwise  of  the  mattress.  This  process  of  enlargement  and 
improvement  which,  after  many  years  of  effort,  made  it  pos- 
sible to  hold  the  worst  caving  bank,  so  increased  the  cost  of 
bank  protection  that  the.  original  estimate  of  $13  per  lineal 
foot  had  to  be  increased  to  $30.  It  had  also  become  apparent 
that  a greater  length  of  bank  protection  would  be  required 
than  was  at  first  assumed,  and  that,  all  things  considered,  the 
complete  improvement  of  the  channel  by  the  plan  originally 
proposed  and  so  far  pursued,  if  practicable  at  all,  would  cost  at 
least  twice  the  amount  of  the  original  estimate.  For  a time  the 
outlook  was  very  gloomy. 

Just  in  the  nick  of  need  that  aquatic  Titan,  the  hydraulic 
dredge,  made,  its  appearance  and  offered  the  hope  that  the  ob- 
structing bars  might  be  kept  down  by  annual  dredging  during 
the  two  or  three  months  of  the  year  of  their  interference  with 
commerce.  Never  did  a happier  idea  dawn  at  a more  pro- 
pitious moment.  After  having  built  and  tried  one  small  boat — 
the  Alpha  (well  named),  the  Commission  proceeded  at  once 


6 


PRESENT  ASPECT  OF  THE 


to  try  a decisive  experiment.  It  was  considered  that  the 
crucial  question  was  whether  or  no  a machine  could  be  built, 
manageable  in  the  river,  and  capable  of  cutting  through  a bar 
so  quickly  that  the  excavated  channel  would  not  fill  up  before 
it  could  be  finished.  It  was  believed  that  the  current,  once  in 
possession  of  the  newly  made  channel,  would  keep  it  open  by 
scour.  With  this  view  the  Commission  built  the  Beta,  which, 
upon  her  trial  tests,  was  able  to  take  up  and  transport  through 
pontoon  pipes  to  a distance  of  1,000  feet  the  astonishing  quan- 
tity of  4,000  cubic  yards  of  sand  per  hour.  Nothing  like  it 
had  been  done  before.  That  experiment  settled  the  question 
of  possibility. 

The  Beta,  however,  was  an  experimental,  rather  than  a 
working  dredge.  While  she  is  still  in  use,  and  has  done  valu- 
able service,  she  has  never  approached  the  record  of  her  trial 
tests  in  practical  operation.  She  is  a twin  boat,  having  two 
complete  dredging  outfits  mounted  on  one  hull,  which  is  not 
the  most  desirable  form  for  use.  Eight  other  dredges  have 
been  built  since,  two  of  them  having  nominal  capacities  of 
800  cubic  yards  per  hour,  and  five  of  them  1,000  cubic  yards. 
These  have  shown  results  at  work  of  from  500  to  1,200  yards, 
as  nearly  as  can  be  guessed.  This  is  the  word  to  use,  because 
in  actual  work  the  amount  of  material  moved  is  an  unascer- 
tainable  quantity.  Sometimes  the  sand  that  runs  into  the  cut 
laterally  and  out  of  it  rearwardly  while  it  is  being  made  ex- 
ceeds in  amount  that  which  passes  through  the  dredge  pump; 
in  other  cases  there  is  comparatively  little  of  this  action. 

The  last  dredge  built  of  the  eight  referred  to — the  B.  M. 
Harrod,  will  do  her  first  work  on  the  bars  during  the  low  water 
of  1907.  She  embodies  every  improvement  which  skill  and  ex- 
perience have  been  able  to  suggest,  and  is  expected  to  handle 
from  2.000  to  4,000  cubic  yards  per  hour,  according  to  the 
nature  of  the  material. 

At  the  outset  the  steamboatmen  asked  for  a low  water  chan- 
nel of  eight  feet.  When  the  dredges  got  to  work  that  depth 
was  so  easily  obtained  that  they  called  for  nine,  and  that  is 
now  the  requirement  of  the  law,  and  has  been  maintained  for 
several  years.  During  last  season — that  of  1906,  there  was  an 
unusual  supply  of  water,  and  depths  nowhere  less  than  ten  feet 
were  maintained  throughout  the  season.  Doubtless  something 
more  than  nine  feet  can  be  obtained  in  the  driest  seasons  by 
further  improvements  in  machinery  and  methods,  and  toward 
that  end  the  efforts  of  the  Commission  have  been  and  are  now 
being  directed.  The  expense  of  it  is  less  than  one  would  sup- 
pose. The  cost  of  operating  the  dredges  to  secure  nine  feet 
(not  including  their  first  cost)  will  not  exceed  $250,000  per 
annum,  taking  a series  of  years  together. 

But  when  it  comes  to  fourteen  feet,  as  is  called  for  by  the 


MISSISSIPPI  RIVER  PROBLEM 


7 


Lakes-to-the-Gulf  project,  the  problem  assumes  a new  com- 
plexion. As  has  been  stated,  the  bars  which  obstruct  naviga- 
tion are  the  crests  of  the  sand  hills  which  the  river  piles  up  at 
the  crossings.  These  sand  hills  act  at  low  water  as  dams  be- 
tween the  pools  above  them  and  those  below  them.  To  make  a 
cut  two  or  three  hundred  feet  wide  and  four  or  five  feet  deep 
across  the  top  of  one  of  these  dams  is  not  a very  difficult  un- 
dertaking, and  is  sufficient  to  make  a low  water  channel  nine 
feet  deep.  A channel  fourteen  feet  deep  over  the  same  bar 
would  require  a cut  nine  or  ten  feet  deep.  It  would  also  have 
to  be  longer,  to  include  the  slopes  of  the  bar,  above  and  below. 
The  average  length  of  cut  required  in  the  past  has  been  about 
800  feet.  One  of  the  incidents  of  the  present  work  is  the 
lateral  inflow  of  sand  into  the  cut  as  it  is  being  made,  which 
is  sometimes  very  large.  This  tendency  would  increase  with 
increased  depth  of  cut. 

It  would  be  necessary,  also,  in  order  to  make  a channel  four- 
teen feet  deep  to  dredge  a good  many  bars  that  do  not  need  it 
in  order  to  secure  nine  feet.  Moreover,  it  must  be  anticipated 
that  the  making  of  such  large  channels  through  the  bars  will 
reduce,  the  low  water  level  of  the  river  and  bring  more  bars 
up  to  the  height  that  will  require  dredging.  Such  a change  in 
the  regimen  of  the  river  might  produce  other  consequences 
not  easy  to  foresee.  Upon  the  whole,  it  cannot  be  assumed  that 
a fourteen  feet  channel  could  be  made  by  the  methods  now  em- 
ployed in  the  conditions  now  existing  with  less  than  many 
times  the  annual  dredging  now  applied.  No  doubt  it  could 
be  done.  But  there  is  a better  way. 

If  all  the  banks  below  Cairo  were  protected  against  cav- 
ing, the  sand  bars  would  be  starved  out.  Not  extinguished, 
but  made  so  lean  and  thin  that  little  or  no  dredging  would  be 
required  to  maintain  a waterway  over  them  as  deep  as  the 
volume  flowing  could  supply  at  the  velocity  compelled  by  its 
slope.  It  would  cost  $100,000,000  to  do  it — may  be  more,  and 
five  to  ten  millions  per  annum  to  maintain  the  work.  But 
the  river  would  flow,  in  a fixed  channel  and  carry  little  supply 
of  bar  building  material.  Conditions  similar  to  those  which 
now  exist  in  the  lower  reaches  of  the  river  would  be  extended 
to  those  above.  Large  ocean  going*  vessels  come  to  New  Or- 
leans. In  that  part  of  the  river  the  banks  cave  little  and 
slowly.  The  energy  of  the  current  is  expended  along  the  same 
lines  year  after  year  with  the  result  that  the  channel  grows 
deep  and  narrow. 

It  would  not  be  possible  to  secure  artificially  in  the  upper 
reaches  as  favorable  conditions  as  exist  naturally  in  the  lower 
ones.  The  banks  are  composed  of  coarser,  more  friable  ma- 
terial ; the  velocity  of  the  current  is  greater,  and  the  variation 
of  stage  very  much  greater.  Nevertheless,  if  all  caving  were 


8 


PRESENT  ASPECT  OF  THE 


prevented,  and  all  chutes  closed,  the  river  would  develop  for 
itself  a channel  of  probably  more  than  fourteen  feet. 

This,  however,  is  not  the  better  way  referred  to.  That  is  to 
combine  bank  protection  and  dredging;  to  lower  the  bars 
somewhat  by  the  former,  and  trim  off  the  offending  residue 
by  the  latter. 

It  is  a fortunate  circumstance  that  the  bank  protection  nec- 
essary for  this  purpose  is  also  in  large  part  necessary  for  other 
purposes.  One  of  the  objects  stated  in  the  law  by  which  the 
Mississippi  River  Commission  was  created  was  to  “prevent  de- 
structive floods.”  This  can  be  accomplished  only  by  means  of 
levees.  The  concentration  of  flood  discharge  which  they  se- 
cure is  useful  also  in  the  improvement  of  the  channel.  Since 
1882  the  United  States,  in  co-operation  with  the  riparian 
States  and  communities,  has  reconstructed  and  extended  the 
previously  existing  wholly  inadequate  levee  system.  That 
great  work  is  now  well  toward  completion.  A few  words  will 
suffice  to  illustrate  the  vastness  of  the  interests  resting  upon 
the  maintenance  of  the  system. 

The  alluvial  valley  below  Cairo  contains  29,790  square  miles 
of  lands  liable  to  overflow.  Omitting  the  fringe  of  marsh  along 
the  Gulf  and  the  area  subject  to  inundation  by  backwater  at 
the  lower  ends  of  the  great  basins,  which  must  be  left  open 
for  the  escape  of  surface  water,  about  26,000  square  miles  re- 
main which  can  be  protected  by  levees.  For  this  purpose  about 
1,400  miles  of  embankment  are  now  in  place  upon  which  $21,- 
234,653.82  has  been  expended  by  the  United  States,  and  a still 
larger  sum  by  the  riparian  States  and  organizations.  The 
great  floods — those  which,  if  unrestrained,  would  overflow  the 
entire  valley,  occur  at  irregular  intervals  averaging  about  five 
years.  There  have  been  three  such  within  ten  years — in  1897, 
1903  and  1907.  The  flood  of  1897  made  38  crevasses  in  the 
levees  aggregating  about  8 miles  in  width;  that  of  1903  made 
9,  aggregating  about  3 miles ; and  the  flood  of  1907  one  little 
one  below  New  Orleans,  which  was  successfully  closed.  A 
crevasse  in  the  upper  or  central  part  of  the  valley,  where  the 
alluvial  area  is  wide  and  the  overflow  water  spreads  far  out 
and  down  across  the  country  before  the  surface  channels  can 
take  it  in,  is  a vast  disaster.  The  9 crevasses  of  1903  over- 
flowed about  3,000  square  miles  of  land.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  levees  that  did  not  break  saved  23,000  square  miles  from 
overflow  during  the  same  flood.  It  is  not  at  all  extravagant 
to  say  that  the  levees  have  been  worth  more  to  the  country 
within  ten  years  past  than  the  whole  cost  of  their  construc- 
tion. For  their  entire  completion  they  require  a few  miles 
more  in  length  and  some  increase  in  height  and  strength.  With 
these  additions,  which  may  be  said  to  be  now  in  sight,  the 
system  will  be  complete  in  construction.  But  an  indispensable 


MISSISSIPPI  RIVER  PROBLEM 


9 


and  difficult  part  of  tHe  work  of  protecting  the  valley  from 
overflow  will  remain — the  protection  of  the  levees  themselves 
against  the  encroachments  of  the  river. 

The  uneasy  stream  is  incessantly  shifting  its  position.  The 
caving  banks  gnaw  their  way  through  the  fields  and  woods 
to  the  base  of  the  levees  and  undermine  them.  At  the  approach 
of  this  danger  the  usual  course  has  been  to  abandon  the  threat- 
ened line  and  build  a loop  around  it.  But  sometimes  this  is  a 
desperately  difficult  undertaking.  Sometimes  the  threatened 
levee  stands  on  a narrow  strip  of  land  between  the  river  and 
a lake  extending  miles  back  into  the  country.  In  such  a case 
it  is  impossible  to  make  a loop  without  going  behind  the  lake 
with  it  at  great  expense,  and  the  abandonment  of  a large  area  ’ 
of  improved  land,  which  may  be  thickly  inhabited,  to  the  in- 
clusion, sometimes,  of  towns  or  cities.  In  some  such  cases  the 
most  economical  and  effective  way  to  protect  the  levee  is  to 
protect  the  caving  bank.  It  is  expensive.  As  a rule  it  is  un- 
wise to  undertake  the  revetment  of  a big  caving  bend  unless 
you  can  rely  on  $500,000  to  spend  on  it  within  five  years,  if 
necessary.  But  even  at  that  cost  there  are  places  where  it  is 
true  economy  to  build  them  for  levee  protection. 

There  is  another  important  purpose  to  be  subserved  by  bank 
protection  in  such  cases.  It  is  to  prevent  the  deformation  of 
the  high  water  channel  by  the  introduction  of  wide  irregular- 
ities of  width  between  levees.  In  time  of  overflowing  flood 
the  levees  constitute  the  river  banks.  The  abandonment  of  a 
line  in  front  of  a lake  or  impassable  swamp  and  the  building  of 
a long  loop  around  it  will  spread  the  high  water  channel  to  a 
width,  ordinarily,  of  a good  many  miles — ten,  twenty,  or  it 
may  be  more.  In  such  a case,  also,  there  is  usually  a point  be- 
low the  bend  across  which  the  river  will  find  a path  when  the 
levee  succumbs.  If  such  a cross  flow  be  large,  as  it  is  likely 
to  be,  it  will  deplete  the  current  in  the  main  channel  around 
the  point  and  so  cause  increased  deposit  and  bar  building  in  it. 

If  the  bed  of  the  Mississippi  river  below  Cairo  is  to  be  used 
as  the  path  of  a Lakes-to-the-Gulf  highway,  it  is  of  the  ut- 
most importance  that  such  deformations  of  its  high  water 
channel  shall  be  prevented.  There  are  several  places  at  which 
it  is  threatened  now,  where  once  permitted,  it  could  never  be 
undone. 

Another  kind  of  situation  is  not  infrequently  presented  in 
which  the  protection  of  caving  bends  is  of  great  importance. 
It  is  to  prevent  cut-offs.  It  sometimes  happens  that,  as  a bend 
slowly  eats  its  way  into  the  bank  it  is  followed  by  a point 
extending  from  the  other  side  of  the  river  which  grows  by 
accretion  as  the  opposite,  concave  bank  recedes  by  erosion. 
In  such  a case  the  bend  sometimes  tends  to  develop  a circle  re- 
turning upon  itself  at  the  lower  side  of  the  point,  which  re- 


10 


PRESENT  ASPECT  OF  THE 


suits  in  a large  bend  with  a narrow  neck,  which,  growing  nar- 
rower and  narrower  by  continued  erosion,  finally  gives  way. 
Such  an  act  of  suicide  on  the  part  of  the  river  is  called  a “cut- 
off. ” 

At  first  blush  one  would  naturally  suppose  that  such  a short- 
ening of  the  river  by  cutting  out  a bend  would  be  a fortunate 
incident.  In  fact  the  President  of  the  United  States  said  to  the 
first  President  of  the.  Mississippi  River  Commission,  whom  he 
had  just  appointed,  and  who  came  in  to  express  his  sense  of 
the  honor  conferred,  that  he  thought  the  first  work  of  the  Com- 
mission ought  to  be  to  “take  some  of  the  kinks  out  of  the 
. river.  ” 

But  a little  reflection  will  show  the  fallacy  of  that  idea. 
The  stability  of  the  channel  of  the  Mississippi  depends  on  an 
adjustment  between  the  scouring  power  of  its  current  and  the 
resisting  power  of  its?  banks.  If  the  current  were  more-  rapid 
than  it  is  and  the  banks  as  they  are,  there  would  be  more  cav- 
ing, and  the  river  would  lengthen.  Or  if  the  banks  were 
firmer  than  they  are  and  the  current  the  same,  there  would  be 
less  caving.  The  river  is  a wise  engineer.  It  has  made  itself 
a zigzag  path  down  the  valley  for  the  same  reason  that  men 
make  zigzag  roads  down  hill — to  ease  the  descent.  A cut-off 
across  a neck  a thousand  feet  wide  introduces  a fall  in  the 
river  at  that  point  equal  to  the  whole  fall  around  the  bend, 
w^iich  may  be  as  much  as  four  or  five  feet.  Such  a change 
increases  the  velocity  of  the  current  both  above  and  below  the 
location  of  the  cut-off.  Within  the  distance  thus  affected, 
which  may  be  fifty  miles,  or  more,  the  river  digs  into  its  banks 
with  augmented  ferocity,  and  rests  not  until  it  has  regained 
its  lost  length  and  restored  the  former  relation  between  the 
resisting  power  of  its  banks  and  the  scouring  power  of  its  cur- 
rent. If  the  shortening  effect  of  all  the  cut-offs  that  have 
occurred  within  a century  had  not  been  compensated  by  cav- 
ing, the  length  of  the  river  between  St.  Louis  and  New  Orleans 
would  have  been  lessened  by  more  than  a hundred  miles.  But 
careful  comparison  of  present  surveys  and  old  maps  and  rec- 
ords indicates  that  there  has  been  no  substantial  change  in  the 
length  of  the  river  since  the  occupation  of  the  valley  by  white 
men.  Since  the  creation  of  the  Mississippi  River  Commission 
it  has  been  part  of  its  business  to  watch  the  river’s  behavior 
in  this  respect  and  prevent  cut-offs  by  protecting  caving  banks 
which  threaten  to  produce  them.  Two  great  revetments  have 
been  built  for  that  purpose — one  at  Ashbrook  Neck,  Miss.,  417 
miles  below  Cairo,  and  the  other  at  Giles  Bend,  Miss.,  688 
miles  below  Cairo,  and  a short  distance  above  Natchez.  At  the 
former  of  these  places  the  conditions  were  highly  critical. 
There  is  in  that  vicinity  a group  of  great  bends  immediately 
succeeding  one  another.  If  one  of  them  should  let  go,  the 


MISSISSIPPI  RIVER  PROBLEM 


11 


chances  are  that  it  would  be  impossible  to  hold  the  others,  and 
to  repair  the  devastation  that  would  follow  such  a wholesale 
change  would  take,  more  years  than  anyone  can  foresee.  A 
revetment  was  begun  there  in  1890.  It  has  been  extended  from 
time  to  time,  and  carefully  maintained,  and  is  regarded  as  a 
highly  important  work. 

Another  use  of  bank  protection  is  to  defend  city  fronts 
against  caving  into  the  river.  The  voracious  Mississippi  is 
quite  as  ready  to  swallow  up  a town  as  a levee.  Revetments 
for  this  purpose  have  been  built  at  Hickman  and  Columbus  in 
Kentucky,  New  Madrid  and  Carruthersville.  in  Missouri; 
Greenville,  Miss.,  and  New  Orleans,  La. 

There  are  • revetments  now  in  existence  at  twenty  different 
places  between  Cairo  and  Natchez  aggregating  approximately 
153,000  feet,  or  29  miles,  in  length,  built  for  the  various  pur- 
poses stated,  but  all  doing  their  work  by  prevention  of  caving. 
That  they  are  effective  now  to  lessen  the  load  of  sediment  car- 
ried by  the  current  many  millions  of  cubic  feet  each  year  is 
not  to  be  doubted.  To  say  hundreds  of  millions  would  hardly 
be  extravagant.  That  they  may  be  a useful,  although  unno- 
ticed factor  in  the  maintenance  of  the  present  improved  low 
water  channel  is  altogether  likely.  Upon  that  point  there  is 
this  to  be  said,  and  no  more,  resting  on  observation.  In  two 
places  on  the  river  there  has  been  a deepening  of  the  low  water 
channel  which  seems  to  be  due  to  that  cause.  One  of  these  is 
below  Plum  Point  reach,  where,  for  a distance  of  forty  or  fifty 
miles,  there  has  been  observed  a slight  deepening  of  the  chan- 
nel over  the  bars  for  which  no  other  cause-  is  known.  The 
other  is  below  Lake  Providence  reach,  where  a similar  im- 
provement has  been  noticed.  Extensive  revetments  have  been 
built  in  both  of  these  reaches,  and  have-  been  in  effect  for  a 
number  of  years. 

The  Commission  has  always  been  chary  of  revetments  for 
the  protection  of  levees.  It  has  seemed  wiser  to  use  available 
funds  on  the  levees  themselves,  placing  them,  as  a rule,  far 
enough  from  the  river  to  be  reasonably  safe  as  against  caving 
for  twenty  years ; although  all  such  prognostications  are  more 
or  less  uncertain.  But  it  has  built  a few  such  revetments  in 
cases  of  extreme  emergency.  The  first  was  at  Bolivar,  Miss., 
in  1888,  where  the  revetment  still  holds  the  bank  while  the 
great  levee  stands  a few  hundred  feet  away  with  Lake  Bolivar 
just  behind.  Another  was  begun  at  Lake.  Providence  in  1894; 
a third  at  Bondurant  in  1899,  and  a fourth  at  Kempe’s  Bend 
in  the  same  year.  These  revetments  were  all  postponed  to  the 
last  pinch  of  necessity.  But  they  saved  the  levees  and  give 
promise  of  permanence.  As  time  has  passed  this  problem  has 
grown  in  importance.  The  increased  height  of  the  levees, 
made  necessary  by  increased  concentration  of  the  flood  dis- 


12 


PKESENT  ASPECT  OF  THE 


charge,  has  greatly  increased  their  cost  and  magnified  the 
destructiveness  of  crevasses  when  they  occur.  The  expense  of 
long  loops  around  caving  banks  has  increased  enormously. 
The  higher  flood  levels  have  made  the  cross  flow  over  aban- 
doned points  more  and  more  injurious.  If  it  was  justifiable 
ten  or  fifteen  years  ago  to  build  revetments  for  the  protection 
of  levees,  it  is  much  more  so  now.  Acting  upon  these  views  a 
fifth  levee  protecting  revetment  was  built  at  Longwood,  Miss., 
in  1904,  and  two  others  have  been  undertaken — one  at  Fitter's 
Bend,  Miss.,  and  one  at  Reid-Bedford  Bend,  La.  There  are 
other  places  where  the  same  sort  of  crisis  is  approaching.  It 
will  take  a million  dollars  a year  for  five  years  to  come  to  build 
the  revetments  necessary  for  the  secure  protection  of  the 
levees. 

Even  that  large  sum  for  that  purpose  alone  will  be  a wise 
expenditure.  The  interests  involved  are  vast  beyond  estima- 
tion. The  alluvial  valley  of  the  Mississippi  is  the  cream  jug  of 
the  continent.  No  other  twenty-six  thousand  square  miles  of 
the  earth’s  surface  is  capable  of  supporting  a denser  popula- 
tion. Already  the  forces  of  progress  are  responding  to  the 
opportunity  offered  by  protection  from  overflow.  The  rail- 
roads necessary  to  carry  away  the  wealth  of  timber  which 
loads  every  uncleared  acre  are  covering  the  country  with  a 
network  of  steel.  Values  have  doubled,  trebled,  quadrupled. 
Mills,  factories,  stores  and  banks  have  multiplied.  The  surface 
drainage  systems  which  will  constitute  the  last  step  in  the 
complete  reclamation  of  all  the  alluvial  valley  are  in  course  of 
active  development.  All  this  has  come  from  the  birth  of  confi- 
dence in  security  from  overflow,  and  it  is  but  the  prelude  to  a 
more  wonderful  prosperity  to  come,  if  that  confidence  is  not 
disappointed.  A little  more  help  from  the  United  States  will 
put  the  levees  in  such  condition  that  the  people  will  be  able  to 
maintain  them  themselves,  if  the  government  will  only  defend 
them  against  undermining  by  the  river. 

The  work  of  bank  protection  as  a means  toward  a channel 
fourteen  feet  deep  would  need  to  be  on  a larger  scale  than 
for  mere  security  of  levee  lines.  How  much  more,  it  is  impos- 
sible to  foresee.  We  may  get  better  results  from  dredging 
alone  than  seem  now  to  be  probable,  and  so  need  less  bank 
protection;  or  we  may  find  the  reverse  to  be  true. 

This,  then,  is,  in  brief,  the  present  aspect  of  the  Mississippi 
River  problem,  as  it  appears  to  the  writer.  That  problem,  as 
it  was  undertaken  by  the  Mississippi  River  Commission 
twenty-eight  years  ago,  has  been  worked  out  with  substantial 
completeness.  The  levee  system  has  proved  its  practicability 
and  effectiveness.  The  low  water  channel  then  hoped  for,  and 
all  that  was  expected,  of  eight  feet,  has  been  secured,  and  a 
foot  more.  The  original  estimate  of  $33,000,000  has  not  been 


MISSISSIPPI  RIVER  PROBLEM 


13 


greatly  exceeded,  excluding  from  the  appropriations  expendi- 
tures for  work  not  embraced  in  it.  The  work  has  passed  through 
many  vicissitudes.  For  years  it  was  the  subject  of  criticism 
and  attack  by  all  sorts  of  men,  from  learned  scientists,  to 
ignoramuses  of  low  degree.  At  one  time  the  use  of  bank  revet- 
ments was  forbidden  by  law — River  and  Harbor  Act  of  1886. 
But  at  last  the  theories,  plans  and  methods  of  the  Commission 
have  justified  themselves. 

Now,  as  respects  the  improvement  of  the  channel  for  naviga- 
tion, the  larger  problem  of  fourteen  feet  looms  into  view.  The 
way  to  its  solution  is  not  easy,  but  plain.  It  is  to  go  on  with 
a continuation  and  extension  of  the  same  methods  which  have 
been  successful  in  the  development  of  nine  feet.  If  the  Lakes^ 
to-the-Gulf  waterway  is  regarded  by  Congress  as  a probability 
of  the  future,  it  would  be  wise  to  appropriate  $2,000,000  a year 
for  bank  protection  for  a few  years  to  come.  Half  of  that  sum 
should  be  expended  at  points  where  urgently  necessary  for  the 
protection  of  the  levee  lines,  and  the  other  half  where 
the  effect  of  the  protection  in  diminishing  the  growth  of  bars 
could  be  usefully  studied.  Such  a place  would  be  found  in 
and  above  Plum  Point  reach  where  there  is  now  in  place 
46,300  feet  of  revetment  within  a length  of  17  miles.  It  would 
be  feasible  to  complete  in  that  part  of  the  river  within  four  or 
five  years  revetments  enough  to  cover,  including  Plum  Point 
reach,  seventy-five  miles  of  its  course,  which,  with  the  fifty 
miles  from  the  foot  of  that  reach  to  Memphis,  would  afford 
opportunity  for  study  of  the  effect  of  bank  protection  in  the 
formation  of  bars  for  a hundred  and  twenty-five  miles. 

It  would  be  wise  in  the  meantime  to  carry  forward  the  work 
of  dredging  to  greater  depths  than  have  been  hitherto  at- 
tempted; to  build  some  more  dredges,  one  after  another,  each 
better  than  its  last  predecessor,  exactly  as  has  been  done  in 
the  past ; to  begin  to  use  them  earlier  in  the  season — as  soon, 
say,  as  the  depths  over  the  bars  fall  to  twenty  feet;  to  make 
the  cuts  wider  as  well  as  deeper,  and  to  deposit  the  material 
taken  from  them  at  greater  distances  away ; and  by  such 
means  to  see  how  nearly  fourteen  feet  can  be  reached  under 
conditions  attainable  with  small  expenditure  in  bank  pro- 
tection. 

So  large  a program  of  bank  protection  as  these  suggestions 
contemplate  will  require  a further  course  of  study  and  experi- 
ment in  mattress  construction,  the  length  and  cost  of  which 
can  not  be  closely  predicted.  As  has  been  stated,  the  fascine 
mattress  is  the  only  form  of  subaqueous  revetment  which  has 
been  found  successful,  and  it  seems  impossible  that  anything 
else  could  be  equal  to  it.  The  slender,  flexible  willows  of  which 
it  is  made  are  no  longer  plentiful.  For  a large  increase  of 
bank  protection  works  some  substitute  for  them  must  be  found. 


PRESENT  ASPECT  OF  THE 


14 

The  most  promising  suggestion  is  to  split  the  larger  willows 
into  strips  small  enough  to  be  flexible,  and  use  them  in  making 
the  fascines;  perhaps  in  combination  with  the  brushy  limbs 
from  the  tops  of  the  trees.  There  is  a great  supply  of  willows 
suitable  for  that  use.  It  is  not  known  that  the  splitting  up  of 
trees  on  such  a scale  has  even  been  practiced,  but  there  is  no 
doubt  that  machinery  can  be  made  to  do  it ; and  there  is  good 
reason  to  believe  that  such  strips  would  make  an  acceptable 
substitute  for  the  natural  willow  growth  now  used.  It  may 
require  invention,  and  it  will  certainly  take  time,  study  and 
experiment  to  make  the  substitution.  There  is  good  reason, 
therefore,  why  these  preliminary  steps  should  be  begun  at 
once. 

Finally,  the  work  and  expenditure  here  suggested  will  be 
worth  its  cost  even  though  the  Lakes-to-the-Gulf  project 
should  never  materialize.  The  main  stem  of  the  Mississippi 
is  itself  a mighty  highway  of  commerce,  but  in  a state  of  com- 
parative disuse.  The  failure  of  commerce  to  respond  to  the 
opportunities  offered  to  it  during  the  past  ten  years  is  to  be 
accounted  for  by  the.  constitutional  slow  growth  of  the  plant, 
confidence.  The  old  steamboats  and  barges  have  worn  out  or. 
become  unserviceable,  and  men  hesitate  to  build  new  ones 
while  in  doubt  as  to  the  permanence  of  the  work  and  the 
future  disposition  of  Congress.  Nothing  else  can  dispel  these 
doubts  so  completely  and  quickly  as  to  see  the  government 
go  on  and  on  to  complete  and  completer  mastery  of  the  river — 
from  nine  feet  to  ten,  and  then  to  eleven,  and  the  progressive 
fixation  of  the  channel,  bend  after  bend.  This  is  the  way  to 
rehabilitate  the  commerce  of  the  river,  and  the  time  to  begin 
it  is  now. 

The.  Lakes-to-the-Gulf  waterway  will  be  constructed.  And 
when  done  it  will  exhibit  the  most  fortunate  combination  of 
economies  ever  brought  together  on  so  great  a scale.  At  one 
end  the  Chicago  Drainage  Canal,  worth  all  its  cost  for  the 
sanitation  of  the  city;  below  that  the.  Illinois  river  section, 
worth  a large  part  of  its  cost  for  the  water  power  developed ; 
and  at  the  lower  section  the  protected  banks  of  the  Mississippi, 
worth  all  the  cost  of  the  work  in  the  perpetual  security  of  the 
alluvial  valley  against  overflow. 

One  further  thought,  not  for  its  utility,  but  its  inspiration. 
The  big  dredge  has  a little  brother  lately  come  into  the  world, 
but  destined  to  work  a mighty  revolution  in  waterway  trans- 
portation. It  is  the.  gasoline  motor  freight  propeller,  scarcely 
larger  than  an  automobile,  with  its  little,  flat,  shallow  scow — 
the  cheapest  craft  ever  floated,  a mere  box,  satisfied  with  a 
foot  and  a half  of  water,  pushed  ahead,  or  towed  behind,  and 
carrying  a few  tons  of  merchandise.  It  is  a true  aquatic  truck, 


MISSISSIPPI  RIVER  PROBLEM 


15 


scarcely  more  costly  than  a good  team  and  land  truck,  and 
requiring  only  one  man  to  own  and  run  it.  He  is  in  truth 

* * * a cook  and  a captain  bold, 

And  the  mate  of  the  Nancy  brig, 

And  a bo’ sen  tight,  and  a midshipmite, 

And  the  crew  of  the  captain’s  gig. 

This  little  craft  has  been  coming  into  use  lately  on  the 
bayous  and  small  streams  of  the  alluvial  valley  in  increasing 
numbers.  That  we  shall  have  in  the  future  abundant  supplies 
of  fluid  fuels  and  simple  engines  for  using  them  is  not  to  be 
doubted.  We  have  been  hearing  for  twenty-five  years  of  the 
15,000  miles  of  navigable  channels  of  the  Mississippi  and  its 
tributaries.  We  have  taken  it  as  an  innocent  exaggeration. 
But  these  little  motor  boats,  between  the  Alleghenies  and 
Rockies,  and  Canada  and  the  Gulf,  will  find  all  that,  and  more. 
With  their  cousins  on  land  next  to  come — the  trolley  freight 
lines,  they  will  gather  the  productions  of  that  great  watershed 
into  the  hulls  of  its  big  boats  as  the  Lord  gathers  its  rainfall 
into  the  channels  of  its  big  rivers. 


■ 


Press  of 

Edward  Keogh  Printing  Co. 
Printers  & Binders 
Chicago 


